Mr VOWLES - 2014-05-08
Yesterday you stated:
But an e-mail from slush fund Director, Graeme Lewis, states:
Can you confirm the member for Blain received $10 000 during the Blain by-election campaign? Do you honestly expect Territorians to believe you had no knowledge of how your by-election campaign was funded when the fate of your government hung on the outcome?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, let me give the member for Johnston a lesson. Elections are run by the party. Campaign committees are set up by the party to run elections. How a party operates this is a matter for the party. I said the other day that silly politicians who get involved with money are the same silly politicians who talk about party matters. I am not talking about the party, because the party operates its machinery, not us as politicians. I am not talking about Foundation 51; I have no connection with it. I do not know all of its business.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Under the Administrative Arrangements Order, the Chief Minister is responsible for the NT Electoral Commission. The NT Electoral Commission is responsible for the proper declaration of activities. You are responsible for whether Foundation 51 properly declares or not. You need to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister is only just into the answer.
Mr GILES: The Electoral Commissioner is an independent person. I find it outrageous that you put a slur on the Electoral Commissioner. Bill Shepherd has always done a fantastic job. We now have Mr Loganathan doing it. For you to put a slur on the Electoral Commissioner as being non-independent and saying I direct him is outrageous.
Look at electoral laws, members for Fannie Bay and Johnston. The Electoral Act is clear in that in each party an individual member needs to make a declaration. I do not know the exact date, but the time has not expired as to when the declaration needs to be made, either by the new member for Blain or the party. Wait until those declarations come in, you will see what may or may not be in a declaration.
With any connection with Foundation 51, you need to talk to them or the party. The same way you should be talking to your union mates who put slush funds into Labor about the Stella Maris enquiry, and to Harold Nelson Holdings and what relationship it has with Labor. You should be looking in your own back yard at how the union provided the slush funds to Labor to fund the campaign.
We are open, clear and transparent, and we will provide our returns as per the guidelines under the Electoral Act. We will do what we are supposed to do.
I am not surprised at this line of questioning from the members for Johnston and Fannie Bay. I am a little surprised at the member for Fannie Bay because his faction is over here, and the Leader of the Opposition’s is over there. They seem to have come together on this one and he is dragging himself into the gutter where the Leader of the Opposition normally is. This surprises me a little, coming from the member for Fannie Bay.
I remember the first day of Question Time since the change of government when the Leader of the Opposition slurred the member for Daly during the first question. You are having another crack at a new member. Well done, member for Fannie Bay, you have dragged yourself down instead of dragging yourself up. I am surprised you have done that. I am not surprised at the member for Johnston.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113 says:
You still have not answered the question. Do you expect Territorians to believe you had no knowledge of how your by-election was funded?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Opposition Leader. The Chief Minister has finished.
- There is no direct connection or legal link between Foundation 51 and the party. How the Blain by-election was funded is a matter for the party.
But an e-mail from slush fund Director, Graeme Lewis, states:
- The Foundation has already contributed significantly towards activities of the Blain by-election. In retrospect - not clever in view of this current interrogation!
Can you confirm the member for Blain received $10 000 during the Blain by-election campaign? Do you honestly expect Territorians to believe you had no knowledge of how your by-election campaign was funded when the fate of your government hung on the outcome?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, let me give the member for Johnston a lesson. Elections are run by the party. Campaign committees are set up by the party to run elections. How a party operates this is a matter for the party. I said the other day that silly politicians who get involved with money are the same silly politicians who talk about party matters. I am not talking about the party, because the party operates its machinery, not us as politicians. I am not talking about Foundation 51; I have no connection with it. I do not know all of its business.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Under the Administrative Arrangements Order, the Chief Minister is responsible for the NT Electoral Commission. The NT Electoral Commission is responsible for the proper declaration of activities. You are responsible for whether Foundation 51 properly declares or not. You need to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister is only just into the answer.
Mr GILES: The Electoral Commissioner is an independent person. I find it outrageous that you put a slur on the Electoral Commissioner. Bill Shepherd has always done a fantastic job. We now have Mr Loganathan doing it. For you to put a slur on the Electoral Commissioner as being non-independent and saying I direct him is outrageous.
Look at electoral laws, members for Fannie Bay and Johnston. The Electoral Act is clear in that in each party an individual member needs to make a declaration. I do not know the exact date, but the time has not expired as to when the declaration needs to be made, either by the new member for Blain or the party. Wait until those declarations come in, you will see what may or may not be in a declaration.
With any connection with Foundation 51, you need to talk to them or the party. The same way you should be talking to your union mates who put slush funds into Labor about the Stella Maris enquiry, and to Harold Nelson Holdings and what relationship it has with Labor. You should be looking in your own back yard at how the union provided the slush funds to Labor to fund the campaign.
We are open, clear and transparent, and we will provide our returns as per the guidelines under the Electoral Act. We will do what we are supposed to do.
I am not surprised at this line of questioning from the members for Johnston and Fannie Bay. I am a little surprised at the member for Fannie Bay because his faction is over here, and the Leader of the Opposition’s is over there. They seem to have come together on this one and he is dragging himself into the gutter where the Leader of the Opposition normally is. This surprises me a little, coming from the member for Fannie Bay.
I remember the first day of Question Time since the change of government when the Leader of the Opposition slurred the member for Daly during the first question. You are having another crack at a new member. Well done, member for Fannie Bay, you have dragged yourself down instead of dragging yourself up. I am surprised you have done that. I am not surprised at the member for Johnston.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113 says:
- An answer shall be succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question.
You still have not answered the question. Do you expect Territorians to believe you had no knowledge of how your by-election was funded?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Opposition Leader. The Chief Minister has finished.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016